A Bristol terror suspect told friends he needed to "make a big explosion" as he bought parts for a bomb, a jury has been told.

Andrew Ibrahim invented a college rocket-making project to avoid suspicion when asked why he needed the chemicals and electrical components he bought at city shops.

The former Bristol Cathedral School pupil, who went on to study at City of Bristol College, made trips to shops including Boots, Wilkinsons, Tesco and Maplins last April, days before he was arrested on suspicion of a deadly plot.

Crown Court heard that during this time Ibrahim, 20, bought eight 200ml bottles of hydrogen peroxide from Boots in Broadmead and Cribbs Causeway and got his friend Jack Everson to buy another two for him.

CCTV images shown to the jury yesterday showed the Muslim convert, who changed his first name to Isa, purchasing hydrogen peroxide in Boots at The Mall, Cribbs Causeway, on April 12 last year, five days before he was arrested by armed police.

Ibrahim, who is accused of plotting to bomb The Mall Bristol shopping centre in Broadmead, has admitted buying two bags of citric acid, 24 fuel tablets, bicarbonate of soda and electronic equipment, which the Crown says he planned to use to detonate explosive hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD) in a suicide vest.

Receipts for everything he bought were found at his council flat in Comb Paddock, Westbury-on-Trym, when it was raided on April 17 last year.

Officers discovered an explosive device in a biscuit tin in his fridge, which was destroyed in a controlled explosion.

A week earlier, Ibrahim went to electronics shop Maplin on Gloucester Road and bought two low-wattage bulbs, a battery box, T-shaped clip, bulb holder, red bell wire and a square push-button switch.

The sales assistant who served him, Harjit Singh, said of his request for the bulbs: "He wanted it as bright as possible and the heat, but without using the electric mains."

The court heard Ibrahim did not tell Mr Singh what he wanted the equipment for.

But a few days later Ibrahim came back to the shop with Laura Pegler, whom he had met on College Green six months previously. She told the jury: "He said that he needed light bulbs. He said that he was making rockets or something for college.

"He said that he had to make a big explosion but he had to be careful not to hurt anyone."

She said he also told her how much he loved his mum and that he would do anything for her.

Miss Pegler said she noticed Ibrahim's appearance had changed dramatically from their first meeting. He now had a beard and was wearing "Muslim clothing", as opposed to the typical Western attire of before.

Miss Pegler's then boyfriend John Brinkley and her friend Amber Bloom had walked up to Maplin with the pair.

Mr Brinkley said Ibrahim had also told him the citric acid he bought at the Best grocery store in Stokes Croft was for a rocket-making project.

He said: "He seemed like a nice guy, down to earth, a pretty normal guy."

Ibrahim has admitted a charge of making an explosive substance, but denies doing so with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property. He also denies the preparation of terrorist acts by researching buying materials for and manufacturing explosives – as well as identifying a place to do so.

Yesterday, Mark Ellison, QC, went through a detailed time-line of Ibrahim's activities from April 8 to April 12 last year, when he worshipped at Al-Baseera Mosque on Wade Street, Easton.

Mr Ellison went through hours of evidence of Ibrahim looking at, and saving, extremist Islamic material and bomb-making information on his home computer, a PC at the college resource centre and at his father's home.

The case continues.